Monroe City sweeps CanSippy Relay titles

It was business as usual Thursday evening for the Monroe City boys and girls track and field teams at the CanSippy Relays.

TRAVIS DAVID For the Courier-Post

It was business as usual Thursday evening for the Monroe City boys and girls track and field teams at the CanSippy Relays. Both Panther teams came away with team titles.

The Monroe City boys team finished 50.5 points ahead of Palmyra, with 160.5 total points, while the girls team edged Clark County, 133.5-122.5.

Mark Twain finished sixth and eighth in the girls and boys meet, respectively, while Marion County finished ninth and tenth.

Monroe City boys coach David Kirby noted his team had a little different look Thursday evening.

“We had a lot of different kids step up again for us,” the coach said. “We were able to use some different kids in different events and still were successful.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way they all came out and competed.”

Nathan Mehrer won the 1,600 meters for Monroe City with a time of 4 minutes, 50 seconds. He also picked up a red ribbon in the 3,200, finishing just four seconds behind race winner Devin Neff of Mark Twain.

Elijah Minter finished first and third in the shot put (48 feet, 10 inches) and discus, respectively.

C.E. Talton added a first place in the triple jump (42-6 ½) and runner up in the 800. Talton’s time of 2:09 in the 800 marked a personal record.

Palmyra’s Brock Boulware also set a personal mark in the half-mile race with a winning time of 2:07.89.

Daniel Lehenbauer earned the only only first-place finish for Palmyra as he easily outdistanced the field in the discus with a heave of 165-11 ½ — more than 20 feet better than second place.

Logan Maher won the pole vault over Palmyra’s Dylan Red, as both competitors cleared 11-0. Braxton Long, of Palmyra, finished third as he cleared 10-6.

The 400 and 800 relay teams of Monroe City and the Palmyra 3,200 relay team also came away victorious.

The quartet of Noah Swarnes, Matthew Wellman, Eric Bonney and Logan Sherfy teamed up for a sixth place effort in the 400 relay for Marion County’s best finish.

On the girls side, Ananiah Talton was a double winner for Monroe City.

Talton swept both throwing events with a mark of 106-09 in the discus and a toss of 35-8 ½ in the shot.

Bailey Hays won the 3,200 in a time of 12:46 for Monroe City, while teammates Lila Yager and McKenzie West finished 1-2 in the pole vault. Yager’s mark of 8-3 set a new personal record.

“Honestly, the win was a bit of a surprise for us,” said Laura Mulvaney, the Monroe City girls coach. “The girls expect a lot out of themselves every meet, but they weren’t seeing the times they wanted yesterday that they usually see and most were a little down.

"I kept reassuring them that it had been a long couple of weeks with several meets and to just do their best. Clark and Palmyra are always good competition and it’s always a push to the finish with them, so I was really proud of our girls and their fight for every little point we could get.”

Kaylee Janssen and Sheyenne Anderson earned blue ribbons for Palmyra.

Janssen won the 200 with a time of 27.83, while Anderson nipped Monroe City’s Halli Karr in the 100 hurdles with a winning time of 16.09.

Mark Twain’s McKenzie Lathrom earned a pair of first-place finishes.

The Lady Tiger edged Monroe City’s Lauren Youngblood in the long jump with a leap of 16-7 1/4. Lathrom then narrowly defeated Marion County’s Sadie Spratt in the triple jump with a winning mark of 31-10 1/4 — seven inches better than Spratt.

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